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September 28, 2001 "Fair Trade Coffee" with Stefano Lancellotta (FST student) and Deborah Hirsch (TransFair USA). About TransFair USA The Fair Trade Coffee (FTC) movement is being driven by consumer command; thus, it is an important alternative model of economics that puts consumer interests, labor, and the environment first. TransFair USA is part of an International network called the Fair Labor Organization (FLO). FLO was formed about five years ago, but the seeds for it were planted in Holland about 15 years ago with one of the first international fair trade organizations. TransFair is the 18th of FLOs initiatives and it began about 3 years ago. FLO monitors the international side of things for TransFair and the TransFair office monitors the US side of things. There are only 7 people on staff at TransFair. TransFair receives funding from individual donations, the Ford Foundation, and low-interest loans. TransFair monitors the process of coffee production and certifies places as "Fair Trade." Currently, Fair Trade certification insures that farmers get no less than $1.26 per pound of coffee beans. Another qualification is that the farmers must have 5 acres or less of farmland and be a part of a co-op. TransFair also looks at issues of sustainability in coffee farming. The farmers must begin implementing or must have already implemented some type of sustainable farm practices. Many of the farmers that have the FTC certification are organic and/or shade grown. (Incidentally, most coffees that are organic are already shade-grown as this reduces the amount of pesticides/chemicals in coffee production; once coffee production takes place in direct sunlightwithout shadefarmers must use more chemicals in the process). TransFair works with consumer organizations, institutions, and individuals to spread the word about FTC. They work with religious organizations as well. They also work with over 100 student campuses. TransFair just certified their first line of tea and they are hoping to move into cocoa production as well. Why Fair Trade Coffee? The US consumes about 1/5 of the worlds coffee. Coffee is the 2nd most traded commodity in the world (oil is the first). The conventional price per coffee (currently) is .50 per pound; this is the lowest price in history. The grower gets .15-.25 per pound. The cost of production for the grower is .75 per pound on average. As mentioned earlier, TransFair currently offers 1.26 per pound; were the market price to rise to 1.26 per pound or above, TransFair would offer .05 above the market price. The higher wages paid for FTC creates a ripple effect in small coffee-growing communities: better labor conditions, better education, better health care, and in some cases it allows farmers to go through the very expensive process of becoming certified organic farmers. The reason that the market price for coffee is so low right now is that there is an over production of coffee in the world. This is largely due to the fact that the World Bank and the IMF lend money to poor countries for coffee-bean production, often to countries where coffee would not normally grow. Why? Many Multi-National corporations have lobbied the IMF and World Bank to charge more countries with growing coffee and to create a surplus of coffee so that the price of coffee will stay low. In the process of conventional coffee production (from dirt to cup) the steps would be: a small grower would produce coffee; the small grower would be a part of a larger coop; this coop would sell to an exporter (located in the country where the coffee is produced); then this exporter would sell to a US importer; the US importer sells to the roaster (like Petes or StarBucks). So, the farmer (with the most labor costs) gets the least amount of the money, the exporter gets more from the importer, the importer gets more from the roaster, and the roaster charges the consumer the most. In the FTC model, the coop sells directly to a US importer (cutting out one of the middle-menthe exporter), and the importer sells to the roaster. Consequently, the farmer gets more for the coffee. What you can do... Stefano Lancellotta was responsible for getting FTC at the Franciscan School of Theology. FST receives FTC at a bulk rate (minimum of five pounds of coffee); other GTU schools and the GTU in general could also order FTC at a bulk rate. Most FTC is no more expensive than regular gourmet coffees! If you are interested in convincing your school or church organization to making the FTC switch, please contact the TREES office (trees@gtu.edu, 510-649-2560) or contact TransFair directly: www.transfairusa.org, 510-663-5264. TREES would like to see the GTU move to FTC. FTC is just a small step, but it is an entry into issues of equity, social justice, and sustainability. If you are interested in working on this project with TREES, PLEASE contact our office! Asides Mentioned during the presentation was the expensive process of becoming a certified organic farm. This means, among many other things, that there are many coffee growers (among other produce growers) that are already growing according to organic methods that cannot afford the certification process. So, if you are buying at a farmers market, or at a place where the vendor knows the growers, and the vegetables / coffee is not labeled "organic," you may want to ask about the growing practices. Also mentioned in the presentation was that TransFair is hoping to move into Fair Trade cocoa production as well. Cocoa is usually grown on small family farms (mostly in South American and African countries) and often involves child labor. There have been reports that some larger, cocoa plantations have actually been purchasing children from poor families to work on the plantations. Just this year, a group received funds from Congress to investigate the extent to which this form of child slavery is occurring. So, TransFair sees an urgent need to begin a certification process for Fair Trade Cocoa. You may ask, "Why Coffee?" or "Why cocoa?" Well, if you think about it, anywhere you go, coffee is available. Likewise, most any dining experience will include a chocolate option for dessert. So, by focusing on just "coffee" you can actually make a huge difference, not to mention you can use it as a way to raise awareness about larger agricultural, socio-economic justice, and environmental issues. Thanks to those of you who attended this great Forum. If you are interested in becoming more involved with TREES (helping us plan our Spring Forums, working with us to green the GTUs curricula and buildings, or helping us with our outreach project to provide environmental education in local religious communities) please attend our Steering Committee Meetings! They are held every Friday from 5:30-6:30 in the TREES office (in the Center for Ethics and Social Policyright behind the GTU bookstore). Hope to see you soon. Whitney Bauman

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